Worse than childbirth!

Our trip to
Antarctica was on the relatively small ship the MV Antarctic
Dream.Originally built in Holland in 1958 for the Chilean navy, it was
converted into an Antarctic cruise ship in 2004. An excellent ship and
crew, highly recommended.

About 25,000 tourist visit Antarctica each year and 98% of them
start from Ushuaia.

Our trip starts in the sheltered Beagle Channel, and this produces
a false sense of security.

Although we had only paid for the lowest class of cabin (at a
considerable discount) we were all upgraded* to the next class of cabin with a
large window rather than just a port hole.

The high quality of the
cabins, the excellent briefing, the impressive first meal and the well
organised lifeboat drill all added to the false sense of security.

However, eventually the calm of the Beagle Channel turns into
Drake's Passage, one of the roughest stretches of sea in the world. When we
were there the wave height was seven metres, considered
normal.

The captain said our crossing was "average, just a bit
choppy". Mo said it was "worse than childbirth".

There were about 60 passengers on board. Only 12 of them made it
to breakfast on day one. The majority of passengers spent the first 24 hours in
their cabins crawling to the toilet to be sick, many times!

Judy was taking Dramamine and was sick only once. She
spent 24 hours in bed. Stephen was taking Buccastem and was sick
eight times. He was in bed for 36 hours. Both Mick and Mo were taking
Dramamine and were sick an "uncountable" number of times and had
to call the ship's doctor after 48 hours.

This is normal. Almost everybody is seasick, often for 36
hours! You have been warned. Note that on a "10 day" trip you will
spend 5 days getting to and from Antarctica and only 5 days
in Antarctica.

But by day three most people were able make it to the New Year's
Eve party, which was good, if a little subdued. Happy new year.

* We later learnt that our cabin upgrade was due to the
intervention of the Expedition Leader who's family tree included "Newings" (a
surprisingly rare name).